


The Snow that saved the Star.

by Witchygirl132



Category: This is an Original work - Fandom
Genre: F/F, Original work - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-08
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-14 13:28:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 9,942
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29296659
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Witchygirl132/pseuds/Witchygirl132
Summary: Asterin is a girl who grew up in a the royal family was unloved and pressured all of her life until that one night everything changed. Eira is a girl who was raised in a cult to be their sacrifice in a ceremony that happens once every 15 years but she realizes before it's too late and escapes to her new destiny.





	1. The day before ther ball.

“Asterin wake up it’s 8 o’clock!” Her eyes fluttered open in shock at the glaring daylight. “You have the usual hour to get ready but your mother and father would like to speak with you at breakfast so do not be late” one of the maids said as she tied the curtains open. As the maid left the room she swung her feet off of the bed and walked to the mirror. Looking into it she glared into her brown eyes and surveyed her honey coloured skin for any marks. Her mother would not approve of any marks on it because according to her a princess must be beautiful and present herself to the highest standard. But what she did not understand was how she could place so much importance in appearances yet the villagers were allowed to look however they wanted. Sighing she pushed the thoughts of confusion about her families rules and grabbed the gold handled brush to rid her hair of the tangles. Half an hour later of vigorous skin care she stepped out of her bathroom looking fresh as a midnight flower to go pick out a dress. Eventually she decided on a black dress with gold designs on the bottom of the skirt and an intricate gold bodice.

Walking into the dining room, her mother looked at her outfit and gave an approving nod. Both her father and mother were not very loving parents, they each sat at one end of the 12 seater table not exchanging conversation. All alone she sat in the middle of them and began to silently eat her breakfast, that was until her mother spoke. “Asterin darling you will be 18 in one day you need to finalize your choice for a husband so we can announce it at the ball.” Asterin’s eyes flicked down to her plate “Yes mother, I would like to request a day away from my classes so that I can have one final day to think on it.” Her mother took a moment to decide and then gave an affirming nod indicating that she would be expected to stay in her room all day. At least that way she would have time to figure out how she would survive this marriage.

On her way back to her room she stopped to stare out of one of the big glass windows that overlooked the village. The villagers were dressed in brown clothes that were clearly old. It’s no wonder that they always looked so hateful towards the family when they made appearances, how could they not when she always had no choice but to look beautiful whereas they wished they could. Continuing on her route she was doing all she could to suppress her thoughts before she was in her room. When she made it back to the safety of her room silent tears began to slip down her cheeks. How was she supposed to tell her mother that she didn’t want to marry a man, her families bloodline would end with her unless they had another child. She could just see the disappointment in their eyes, the frowns of the already frosty maids- she would be a disgrace to the entire kingdom. How she wished they didn’t constantly make comments about being straight. If only someone could offer her a way out, she thought as she slid down the wall and began to sob.

\- - - - - - - - -

Eira walked down the halls of her mansion, the couple that had taken her in 3 years ago died 1 year after taking her in; caring for her like she was their own. She thought back to the night she escaped the destiny that the cult she had been born in to had written for her. There was a festival that happened every 15 years where she had been born. Each festival one child would be born as another 15 year old was sacrificed. The aim of this festival was for the spirit of the original cult leader Selene’s spirit would be passed down from child to child until one unlocks their memories and is able to lead the cult. What a ridiculous tradition she thought smirking to herself as she sat in her lounge. One of the maids came in right on time to discuss the operation for her next plan. “Go get me Dani she’s better at coming up with the fine details” the maid scurried off. Dani glided through the doors in 5 minutes and sat down on the sofa across from her pouring herself a glass of wine. “You know you really should get some more subn Eira, you’re as white as snow” Dani teased. “Please we both know that I will never gain lose my pale skin, plus my name does mean snow” she replied in an equally teasing voice. She gestured towards the plan and Dani picked it up and began intently reading it- the cheerfulness in the atmosphere was gone now it was all serious. She looked at Dani, she was a small girl, skinny and flexible but her brain really was marvellous. She was the one who made it so that each of their plans worked perfectly.

“So what’s the verdict? Will it work?” Eira questioned leaning forward to show she was serious about this. “Well it seems that ,for once, your plan is as foolproof as one of mine” Dani said in disbelief. “Why thank you my dear friend this plan is very important to me so of course I thought it out.” Dani leant forward which was something she only ever did when she was genuinely curious about something “why exactly do you want to convince the princess to come with you?” Eira took a moment before deciding to answer her question but when she did it was the absolute truth “I have a source in the castle that says that the princesses life may not be all the glitz and glamour her family make it out to be, my source says that she cries a lot and laments about picking a husband so I see it only fitting that we crash the ball they are throwing for her and take the princess with us.” she finished. Dani looked shocked and it took several minutes for her to reply ”I knew there was something going on under the surface of that family she never looked happy in public I mean she’s the same age as us isn’t she about to be 18 right?” a nod was all an answer she got from Eira “well imagine if you had to pick a wife at this age you would be kicking and screaming and refusing” Eira laughed at her and got up to walk out of the room her blood red gown hitting the table as she did so. “Yes I suppose so now I’m going to go meet with my source to get an invitation to the ball goodbye Dani I will see you and your girlfriend at the ball.” With that she turned around and walked back through the halls to her bedchamber.


	2. The night of the ball

Eira gave herself a look over in the mirror and smiled. She had chosen a sapphire blue dress with a slit going up to her thigh, her snow white hair was put up into a bun with a few lose strands hanging and framing her face. In the ways of makeup she had eyeliner and lip gloss on as she wasn’t really a fan of it. But the dagger strapped to her thigh was a black pointed blade with a handle in the shape of a bat wing was a comforting thought and brought the security of protection from her second favorite weapon. Exiting her bedroom, she met Dani and her girlfriend (Paula who was an average height blonde girl with glasses) in the stairwell to leave the mansion. Eira had lived there with just the servants for a year but with them being in another location it was harder too plan so Dani and Paula had moved into the manor permanently so they had more planning time for their mission. “Ready to go?” Paulas cheerful voice asked ,breaking my daze. “You’re awfully happy sounding for what’s about to happen” Eira said raising an eyebrow. Paula just happily nodded and no further conversation was made. The 3 of them walked into the carriage they had chosen. Usually they would have taken an extra maid with them in case of any mishaps that needed their maids attention but tonight however there was an empty seat left; that seat would be filled by the end of the night though.

\- - - - -

Asterin wiped away any tears that threatened to fall from her eyes. Tonight would be the night she lost her freedom the night the small amount of freedom she had would most likely be lost. She would be strong for this, although she couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something unexpected about to happen. She pushed it to the back of her mid and checked her dress. The dress she had chosen was crystal white and had black patterns on it along with that her hair was let lose in waves with a white crown with black gems adorning her hair. At least she would always be able to choose how she dressed.

Making her way to the top of the ballroom steps she kept it in mind to be respectful to her mother and walk properly. On her way down the stairs though a bright blue dress caught her eye. A girl in a sapphire dress with skin white as snow was staring up at her and drinking a glass of red wine. She mentally gasped at her beauty, but was cautious not to look at her for too long. Instead she focused on the line of men waiting for her at the bottom of the steps. She needed to pick tonight who she was going to spend the rest of her life with. The first one reached for her hand and the dancing began. All throughout the night she dance with different men each one talking with her and trying to make themselves look like the best candidate to be her husband. That was until when the next partner changeover happened a hand grabbed her waist that was to dainty to be a mans hand. She spun around in her partners arms and found (to her utter shock) the sapphire girl from earlier.

All she could do was dance in silence as she took the lead and smirked at her and said “Care to explain to me why a lady such as yourself is here dancing with a man instead of me?” Asterin was still to shocked to say anything and just shook her head in denial. “What a pity guess I’ll just have to make up for it” she said with a smile. Asterin finally shook herself out of her shock and questioned “who exactly are you?” as she was spun around. Many dance changes had come to pass but the girl hadn’t moved. “My name is Eira.” was the answer she got. Asterin was not happy with this answer and asked further, “Ok but who are you I’ve never seen you before”. She just mouthed the words you’ll see and made a hand signal to the other side of the room. Instantly flames engulfed one of the doorways and some of the plants in the room. She froze. Eira grabbed her hand and said the 6 words that changed their lives forever “Join me and you’ll be free” that was all Asterin needed to grab her hand and run with her. “Eira the guards!” someone yelled from across the room. Eira grabbed something from her thigh that was strapped there wit her free hand and started swiping at the guards with it. All Asterin saw in that moment was fire, blood and one incredible girl leading her to freedom.

The next thing she knew she was waking up in a new bed in a room she didn’t recognize. She looked down and found herself in a silk nightgown and slippers by the bed. She looked by the side of the bed and saw a tall glass of water with a note next to it. In italics it said: _Good morning there are dresses for you in the closet and an en-suite bathroom for you to bathe in. Once you’re finished ring the bell by the door a maid will come and bring you to me_. Asterin found the door to the en-suite and took a bath using the rose petals next to the tub in a glass jar with her name on it. Once she had finished the closet was investigated. It was filled with dresses of all different types and styles. At last she chose a gold one with yellow roses on it and rang the bell. A happy maid came walking down the hall in half a minute. She nodded to her and walked down the hallway. Asterin followed and they came to a large oak door. The maid left her outside of the door after knocking. A few moments later come in was called out to her. The first thing she saw once she opened the door was the fireplace or more importantly the girl next to it.


	3. Settling in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok to any people who have already read this book don't expect regular updates from me I will try but most of the time I won['t have a schedule for uploading that's all hope you enjoy the chapter as much as I love writing it :)

Asterin walked over to the fireplace to sit next to Eira. “So do you want to explain how I ended up here and why my families palace was on fire?” Eira sighed “To put it simply I wanted to get you out of the castle, you were clearly unhappy in that castle and with all of those lessons it was stifling your potential.” Asterin was shocked. My potential? She thought that all of those lessons were teaching her to be a good princess not pushing her ‘potential’ down. What was this so called potential that she had that Eira knew about and how come she knew so much about her yet she knew nothing about this mysterious girl. “So what is this so called potential I have that I don’t know about but you do,” Eira turned around and looked at her in shock “You seriously don’t know?” her tone held utter disbelief at Asterin’s statement. Asterin gave a very unladylike shrug and looked away. “Well my source says that your family is descended from a very powerful linage of magic.” There was a pause as Eira looked out of the window opposite her and then continued “Magic is embedded into the very first roots of your family tree the magic that they contain has flowed down through the tree to you and it appears that it somehow skipped your mother and your father since they both have magic families, hence you are a very powerful girl Asterin and they know that.” Eira ended her sentence and looked dead into Asterin’s eyes, searching for a reaction. “So” Asterin began quietly “My family is in power because of our magic and my parent didn’t inherit the magic so they are trying to hide mine from me?” Eira gave a nod confirming her knowledge to be correct. This time when Asterin spoke she was furious “They hid this from me my entire life and made me miserable while doing so!” Asterin ran from the room with tears streaming from her eyes. This time Eira decided it was time to leave her be and review the events of last night. 

After a short while Asterin had found a her way to one of the mysterious gardens of the manor. It was breathtakingly beautiful. It was a medium sized room containing floor to ceiling windows with pillars all around the room. The main center piece was a black stone fountain with water bubbling softly from the inside of it. Almost all of the room was encompassed in a maze of vines and flowers that made it look like the room was unkept for and messy but in reality the vines grew in such a way that they were never in your way. They even grew up and around the pillars in a way that made it look like the pillars were naturally there. But the one thing that amazed her the most was the fact that the room was in a permanent twilight. The entirety of the room was filled with different shades of purple and blue. As well as moonlight shining on everything. “Breathtaking isn’t it.” a new voice said from behind her. 

“Hi I’m Paula.” said the person behind her. Asterin turned around. Behind her stood an average height blonde with glasses. She was wearing a white dress that went to her knees with flowers all over it. She was beaming at Asterin with pearly teeth. “Yeah it is” Asterin replied “How does it work I know that it’s not twilight yet?” Paula smiled “It’s magic. I inherited magic from my mothers side and was taught how to harness and grow my powers from a young age, Eira actually wants me to teach you but that’s off topic.” she paused for a breath “So yeah What I did was I used an ancient spell to make it so that the sun that hits the illusion over the manor turns to the colour of twilight. So it always looks like twilight because Dani and Eira are night owls so except for my personal garden which is in the normal sun cycle everything is in twilight.” Asterin nodded in understanding however nice it was to have the manor look like this and cloaked in twilight you need to get sunlight. “Do I get a personal garden too?” she asked curiously. Paula laughed lightly”Asterin now that you’ve found this garden it’s yours.” Asterin frowned “What do you mean ‘I found it’ was it not here before?” Paula walked off and gestured for Asterin to follow her as she began talking and giving an explanation “You see this manor was built by people who practised magic, they ingrained magic into the very core of this house so it’s forever adding new additions for our needs it really is quite spectacular.” she sighed in admiration and continued “Anyway when it was decided that you would come to live here the house must have added rooms for you like how even though you woke up in a spare room here this morning a room that the house made for you will be here adjacent to this room.” Asterin was (yet again) shocked beyond words. This time it only lasted for a few seconds as she was then able to say “Hold on the house is reacting to me and it made me my own garden plus room.” Paula nodded. “Do you want to find you room?” Paula asked. Asterin nodded and they both happily began walking through the room trying to see a door. “Up there!” Paula excitedly yelled pointing to a wooden door that was at the top of a staircase further into the room. 

As they walked up the staircase Asterin felt excitement bubble up in her chest. She hadn’t been excited for a long time about anything and the feeling was foreign to her. Paula reached the door first but for some reason she didn’t touch the door. Paula must have seen the confusion on her face and said “I can feel the magic and I can tell that if I’m the first one to touch this door the room won’t respond to you.” Asterin understood because even though she had little schooling in magic that made sense, the room was targeted towards her so she should be the first one to see it. As she opened up the old oak door she was shocked at what lay beyond it. 

Inside the room there was a large for poster bed with silk black nets hanging from the corners tied up with a ribbon set to be unleashed at night. Unlike the garden the room was bathed in sunlight. In the far corner there was another door that once opened Paula discovered it led to a walk-in-wardrobe. Along the walls there was a large floor length mirror and a dresser with another mirror with makeup on it (that later when Asterin was alone she saw was her exact shades and favourite colours.) At the end of the room there were windows and french doors that led to a balcony with soft chairs on it. The walls of her room were painted a dark midnight blue with silver stars on them. In another section of the room a door led to a bathroom with a huge bathtub and a shower setup along with a toilet and a cabinet under the sink. Back in the main room there was an area that had a mat laid out with a music player and fresh flowers. “Wow Asterin your room really does reflect you.” Paula said. “What do you mean by that?” Asterin questioned her. Paula smiled and said “Well you’re elegant so is the room you have good style as shown by the closet and you take care of yourself as shown by the mat and the bathroom.” she finished with a smile. “I didn’t know that the rooms reflected our personalities; will you teach me that spell that you put onto the manor where you can control the state of day that it’s in?” Paula squealed and jumped up and down “Yay Eira asked if I could teach you magic but I didn’t think you would actually want to learn!” With that Paula grabbed Asterin’s hand and they both sat down on the mat which grew bigger when Paula hovered her hand over it and used magic to make it. Then Paula began to coach her on how to access her powers and what the spell was. By the time Eira sent a maid to collect them for dinner Paula had taught Asterin to successfully alter how the sunlight entered her room and her garden.


	4. Unearthing the past.

Eira could tell dinner shocked Asterin. From what she had heard from her source in the palace the dining room was a miserable affair. It seemed all Asterin’s parents thought was required to have a pleasant mealtime was the best food they could buy and a good dining room. But that’s far from it you need laughter and happiness all of which were in abundance that mealtime. Asterin’s and Paula’s laughter hovered in the air. The girls had quickly become friends and they were both excitedly talking to Dani about some magic Asterin had learnt. “Care to show us what you were taught?” Eira said in a smooth voice. Everyone looked at her and Asterin was unfazed by the question. “Why not” she replied and stood up. She walked over to the window and held out her palm, beams of moonlight were drawn to her hand and after a minute or so of silence just watching Asterin released the moonlight and sat back down. “I know it isn’t much but Paula taught me to manipulate how sunlight enters the manor and only quickly covered how to manipulate moonlight as well” she said in a confident voice. Once dinner was finished Paula and Dani went back to one of their rooms (they had 2 rooms because they couldn’t decided who’s room was better) and Asterin went to exit the room. But just before she left Eira grabbed her hand. She slipped a note into Asterins hand and whispered in her ear “Meet me in the spot in 1 hour.” Eira then walked away leaving a flustered Asterin to read the note. 

\- - - - -

Asterin hurried to her room to read the note. It read: Meet me in the gardens by the willow tree. She recalled seeing a willow tree earlier from her balcony but she had no idea how to get there. So she did the only smart thing and went to fin Paula. In less then a minute Asterin was standing in front of a room one of the maids had directed her to. This one had a light pink and white door with vines painted on it. Before she even knocked Paula’s girlfriend Dani opened the door. “Hey Paula is in the shower right now what do you need?” Asterin was brought up to be confident all of her life and she usually was but when she met new people she was completely out of her comfort zone. “I need help getting to the big willow in the garden” she said in a voice she hoped sounded like how she was raised to be. “Ohh ok I’ll take you there, come on” Dani stepped out of the room and into the hallway. “So you know how our rooms and gardens reflect our personality well today we decided that we are going to sleep in Paula’s room and as you can probably already tell she is such a softie. I swear if living here wasn’t more convenient for us then we would be living in a cottage in the middle of nowhere>” Dani gave a chuckle. “My room is very much different to hers it has a much more chilled vibe. We’re here this is the entrance to the garden and if you continue down here and then to the right the should be able to recognize the door to your garden so you can go through there to get to your room. Bye now have fun.” Dani then sauntered off back to Paula. 

Surprisingly, outside of the manor was just as warm as inside it. Must be more magic she thought to herself as she walked down one of the paths towards Eira. At the willow tree she saw 2 swings tied up in the branches with Eira sat on one of them. “Come sit” Eira said motioning towards the other swing. Asrerin sat down on the swing that was actually quite comfortable. They softly swung for a bit on their swings, both of their dresses brushing together. “So” Asterin said breaking the silence, “Why did you want to meet me here?”   
“To tell you everything I know about your families history as well as my past of course. How else will we ever be able to live together if I’m such a mystery? Plus you deserve to know about your families past.” Asterin was taken aback by Eira’s statement but was silent so she could finally learn the truth. “So I’ll start with your history, your ancestors were able to practice magic and they were very good at it as well. They gained power by being kind and helping others, and your mother and father were the product of an arranged marriage. As neither of them had ever shown signs of working with magic your ancestors tried to pair them together in hopes they would fall in love and that would bring out their magic.” Eira sighed but continued “No-one knows how neither of them had magic since they came from such a rich bloodline but they just never did but they knew that they were in power and they wanted to stay in power. So they had you and tried to raise you to be as cold and heartless as they are but clearly it didn’t work.” as Eira said that she flashed a genuine smile at Asterin. She smiled back and they sat in comfortable silence again.

“Now onto me.” Eira said in a more morbid tone “I was born into a literal cult for the sole purpose of either unlocking memories or dying.” Asterin gasped but she ignored her and went on “there was the original leader of the cult called Selene and she was taught how to brainwash people using magic and she was only 15 when the constant use of it killed her, you would have thought that when she died the magic would have gone away but it didn’t and then they brainwashed their kids to believe this and so on. Before she died Selene came up with a ceremony where every 15 a child would be born and isolated until the 15 year old before them had to die. It was believed her spirit would pass on into the child therefore immortalizing her forever.” a tear leaked out of Eira’s eye but she continued “Each child had until they turned 15 to unlock her memories or they would die. This has happened for so many years and so many lives have been wasted. Until I was born. They raised me in a special way that none of the other kids were taught. They were teaching me how to become her!” Eira was angry now and crying “They tried to sacrifice me when I didn’t unlock any memories from Selene. But as you can see I escaped unharmed and ran. I ran for days until I found this mansion and the couple took me in.” she was no longer angry, just sad “they cared for me like I was their own child until they died. But it’s been 3 years since I fled and one day I will go back and I will get revenge for me and for all those other boys and girls they killed in cold blood!” Eira turned to Asterin and took her hands “That’s why we need you, Asterin you have so much power in you and together we can do terrible things to the people who have hurt us and who continue to spoil the world. Please me, Dani and Paula, we need you to help us take revenge.” Asterin nodded and stood up to pull Eira in close. They just stood there and Asterin let Eira cry into her shoulder.


	5. Revenge plans

The next morning dawned bright the next morning. Asterin had been awake for about 20 minutes and had been sat in the lounge drinking a cup of iced coffee while talking with one of the maids when Everybody else walked in. “Asterin you’re up early!” Paula said in a surprised tone. Dani was next to her and she looked equally surprised. Asterin was also confused “It’s 8:20 right?” Eira laughed and Asterin looked at her. “What time is it then?”   
“Asterin its 8am” Dani said. Paula nodded in agreement. “Huh it’s earlier then I expected.” Asterin replied. Eira offered Asterin a hand up off of the sofa she was sat on and pulled her towards the door that led to the dining room. On the table breakfast was laid out by the maids. There was a plate by each of the chairs for them so they all sat down and began eating in a comforting silence that was until Eira broke it with an announcement “Asterin today we’re going to be planning our revenge.” Asterin looked up startled; she didn’t know that they were going to be thinking of revenge this soon. Eira continued “The people who hurt all of us have to pay for what they did to us your magic and your history was kept from you, I was born to be a sacrifice and the leaders are looking for me every day to kill me. Paula and Dani have their own pasts to which they can tell you at a later date but the point is we’ve been hurt and they need to pay.” Asterin was looking down at her plate thinking of her response when Dani spoke up “You can either help us get revenge or leave the manor and go home it’s your choice.” “Dani that’s not fair-”Paula began to protest but Asterin cut her off before she could finish “I’ll stay,” she looked up and there was a determination in her eyes “They did what they did now we can bring karma.” 

After breakfast was over Eira and Dani said that they had to go to the village for a few hours to see what happened after they ran from the ball and told the girls to just do whatever they felt like and they would plan once they got back. Almost instantly when the door closed Paula was babbling about what they could do. Asterin caught one of Paula’s hands midway and said “Calm down we have time.” Paula smiled. “I know I’m just excited, right I think we should go to the kitchens and do some baking!” Asterin frowned and stopped. “What’s baking?” Paula stopped dead in her tracks and turned around horrified at what she had heard. “You haven’t baked before like never? Wow ok well basically you combine ingredients to make something really good.”   
“That sounds fun.”  
“Yeah it is whenever the other two have to go do some boring stuff I bake goodies for me and the maids while we wait for them.” Paula giggled. “We should definitely do baking then.” Asterin said happily. 

POOF. Asterin and Paula coughed as the flour exploded onto them and all over the kitchen. “Oh no Eira and Dani are going to kill us.” Asterin said laughing. “No they won’t come on there’s a cleaning spell I always know that will clean the flour up for us so we don’t get murdered by the maids either!” Paula held out her hand to Asterin to take. “Normally I do it myself but with both of us it will take half the time. Okay it goes like this: We hold one of the others hands leaving one free then we hover our hands over the mess and say these words: Mess comes and mess goes. Mess comes and mess goes but this mess will go ten times faster.” Two glowing balls of light appeared under their hands and started absorbing the flour. “Now move the light over the mess and don’t break hand contact.” They both started using the light to absorbing the flour and after all of it was gone they let go of each others hands. “Phew thank goodness that was quicker a maid is coming.” 10 seconds later one of the maids opened the door. “Miss Paula, Miss Asterin?”   
“Yes Kayla?” Paula replied.   
“Miss Eira and Miss Dani are home in the gardens and they said they have big news for you two.” This time Asterin answered her “Thank you we will be right there.” 

Eira sighed, she was sitting on one of the many stone benches around the gardens and was thinking about what had happened that day. Her and Dani had gone into the village to get information from her source in the castle about what had happened after Asterin had passed out on their escape from the party. It seemed that the whole kingdom was in a frenzy after her disappearance from the ball. Eira smiled. The fires that Dani and Paula had set had done more damage then intended and half of the castle was in bits. This pleased Eira to know that they could no longer hurt Asterin and they had lost some of the control of their people as they were so busy worrying about their precious castle they didn’t care enough to notice the people were inciting rebellion in the village. Now they just had to plan how to kill her parents and when, they would have to do it soon so the villagers couldn’t beat them to it. “Eira!” Asterin yelled breaking her daze. She saw them staring at her and realized she must have zoned out. “Sorry I was thinking about what we learnt at the village today.” Dani smiled when she saw Paula walking towards her and opened her arms up for her to hug her. Asterin came and sat by Eira on the bench then turned to face her inquisitively. “What did you learn?” She asked. 

“Well it turns out that the fires we set as a distraction worked better then we thought they would. Asterin almost half of the castle burnt down.” Eira looked at Paula and continued “It’s because the fire was magic so they had to use water to keep the flames at bay and get one of the elders from the village to put the flames out.” Paula looked proud of herself but Asterin was worried “Did anyone get hurt?” she asked in a fearful tone. Eira shook her head, “The villagers that were there immediately ran so the noble families and the king and queen were last to leave. Consequently everyone was a little singed and frazzled but no one was badly harmed.” Asterin was relieved but Eira was disappointed, she had hoped that once the villagers had gotten out the nobles and the king and queen would have been a bit more fryed then they were but at least they looked amusing as the exited the castle and they had to fight the fire because the villagers had ran off. “Asterin I wish you would have been awake as we saw them leaving the women all looked like clowns with their ridiculous amounts of makeup running down their faces!” Dani laughed. Asterin was also lightly laughing at the idea of her mother (who always layed on huge amounts of makeup) walking around trying to order people around looking like that. “Well we should all go to the meeting room so we can plan the assassination of the oh so wonderful king and queen.” Eira said. 

The meeting room was a room on the top floor of the manor. It had a table with comfy seats around it. On the walls there were maps and filed were placed in drawers on one wall of the room. Paula started speaking “So we know that this is what’s left of the castle and the king and queen will be desperate to restore their reputation so me and Dani came up with a plan we think you’ll like.” she motioned for Dani to take over. “What we think is that we get the king and queen to host a dinner in the remaining half of the castle and then we get into the palace and kill the king and queen then.”   
“How do you plan on killing them?” Asterin asked. Eira gasped inside because she thought she’d have to convince Asterin to get onboard with the plan but here she was making it better. “Well we thought we’d let you decide that since this plan is for you.” Asterin nodded and leant back in her chair to think. “My parents both have severe food allergies. My mother and Father are both deadly allergic to cinnamon even a sprinkle of it in their food will kill them in minutes. We kill them by getting into the kitchen and putting that in their food but we have to completely mask the smell of it because they have a dog they trained to smell it.” Asterin told them. “Wow you didn’t need a lot of time to come to terms with this.” Dani said. “My parents hate me as much as I hate them. They view me as the heir to the throne that must be kept in the dark and they mean nothing to me.” Asterin stated with no emotion in her voice or in her eyes. “Well that sorts that I’m going to get my source to manipulate them into throwing the dinner tomorrow. Asterin and Paula I need you to learn 2 spells for me.” They both nodded “Great I need you to learn one to disguise all of us and one that will cloak the smell of the food and once they’ve eaten a few bites disable it so they will realize what they’ve just eaten.” Paula looked at Eira “That’s cruel Eira but it will be fun to watch them realize and then see the panic ensue.”


	6. The Assassination.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They poison the king and queen with cinnamon in their food that they used a spell to suppress the smell of. If you haven't heard the Tick Tock sound "Smells like citrus and ... cinnamon" you should listen to it because it is mentioned. Also their death is kind of graphic so if you don't want to see that just skip the chapter.

Kai walked down the hallways feeling proud of themself . They had talked to the King and Queen a few minutes ago as they mourned the loss of their precious reputation naturally the King and Queen never respected their pronouns and always used he and him to refer to them. So when Eira showed up at the castle door requesting to speak to them posing as an old family friend and offered a partnership that would benefit both of them they had to agree. Kai had met with Eira earlier that day and asked them to manipulate the King and Queen into throwing a dinner party to help restore their reputation. In fact Kai had been given the task to create the invitations and hand them out because Kai was their most trusted servant. They were given a short brief of an attendance list but they were un- focused and weren’t paying attention to who was on their list. Some of the people they listed hadn’t even met the King and Queen they had just heard of them. “Do you have the invitations?” Eira asked. “Of course you and your friends will be posing as Lady Madeline and her sister Lady Grace they will be bringing their two servants for whatever reason you decide to come up with.” Kai handed the invites to Eira and said “And you are positive you will be able to get me to Daniel?” Eira smiled “Once the King and Queen are dead meet me and the others at our carriage behind it there will be a full black one with white accents get in there and it will take you to Daniel.” Kai thanked her and walked away. Their business was almost at an end. 

\- - - - - -

Paula and Asterin had entered the manors library to look for the book that contained the spell that Eira had asked them to find and learn. “Found it!” Asterin yelled from atop a ladder. She jumped down to where Paula was on a large cushion that had appeared in Paula’s room when they went to see what the books name was in her list of magic books. “So let’s learn these spells.” Paula said taking the book from Asterin’s hand and opening it to the page for the smell blocking spell. Asterin and Paula were in the kitchens with the maids each doing the spell on them and then giving them different things to smell to see if the spell was working. “What do you think it is?” Paula asked the head chef holding a jar of mint leaves under her nose. “Are you even holding something under there I can’t smell anything,” Asterin and Paula cheered the spell had worked so they could move onto the disguise spell. Back in the library Paula was on the floor laughing, she had done the spell and now Asterin looked like a posh white girl. Asterin grabbed a mirror and immediately did the reverse spell so she was back to herself again. “Right we’re done lets go speak the Eira and see who we’re going to need pictures of to turn into.” Asterin said gently pulling Paula off of the floor. 

That evening Dani and Asterin had disguised themselves to look like Lady Madeline and Lady Grace they had also given Paula and Eira the appearances of two generic servant girls. “Okay the plan is set me and Dani will dismiss you two to go to the kitchens to help the other servants in the kitchens where you will tell them you were sent to deliver the food to the King and Queen. Then on your way to bring the food to them then Paula will put the spell in place to mask the smell of it before they get to the dining room and it’s smelled by the dog for traces of cinnamon. Then by the time my parents have eaten half of their food Paula and Eira will have been dismissed back down into the kitchens to help with the desserts. I will lift the spell bit by bit so the dog will smell it first and alert the dog keeper there is cinnamon in the food but it will be too late. Eira, Paula once you hear the dog bark (which it will) rush upstairs so we can all reveal ourselves together and escape with the horror frozen on their face.” Asterin explained. “Wow Asterin your plans are as foolproof as mine are.” Dani complemented. The girls left an began mentally preparing themselves for what that night was going to entail. 

Once they arrived at the castle they were met with an attendant who lead them all into the castle. Asterin and Dani were lead to the dining room and Paula and Eira were sent to the kitchens to help with the food prep. “Lady Madeline and Lady Grace your highnesses.” the attendant spoke. “Your majesties it is an honor to be here” Asterin said in a sweet voice curtsying as she did so. This would please her parents and their behavior now was crucial to where the King and Queen would have their servants seat them during the meal. “Welcome Ladies I presume your journey here was uneventful?” Her father asked them. Asterin was careful to keep the bitter expression off of her face as Dani answered back “It was your majesty thank you for inviting us.” The King nodded to the Queen in approval and they went to talk to the other guests. “I hate them with every fiber of my being” Asterin whispered to Dani as they went over to the table that was set up with glasses of wine for the guests to drink while they waited for the King and Queen to decide where everyone would be seated and place the name cards on the table. Finally it was time for the guests to go and take their places on the table and it seemed that Asterin and Dani had charmed the King and Queen because they were seated on either side of the Queen. “So Madeline what is your family like?” The Queen asked Dani before taking a sip of wine. “Well me and my sister were privately tutored growing up and largely kept out of the private eye until we were of age and time to be married. Then our parents threw a great ball as tradition dictates so we could choose husbands.” Of course Dani had completely lied about all of it but the Queen was completely captivated, this was Asterins chance to ask her what they had done to cover up her disappearance before the food arrived and everything in the castle descended into chaos. “So” Asterin began “Where is your daughter Asterin I heard that her ball to choose her husband was thrown just a few days ago but it didn’t go as planned and she hasn’t been seen since.” The Queen pressed a hand to her head in a sad way and took a sip of her wine. “My dear Asterin, I feel so sorry for her. The ball was crashed by some bandits in disguise and she got caught in the flames on the way out. She is in bed being treated for her injuries but we fear the worst for her. She is the one that encouraged us to throw this last dinner in her name.” The Queen said sadly. Even Asterin had to admit that her mother was a good actress when she wanted to be. 

Just then the food arrived and they all dug in to it. Once she had made sure her mother and father had eaten at least half of it she began to retract the spell. The dogs bark cut through the soft music that had been playing. The food they had been eating was a platter of fruits as an appetizer but as she lifted the spell more and more she watched her parents face turn from annoyance at the dog to shock as she realized what had happened. Eira and Paula slipped into the room. The queen looked at Asterin as Paula had already started lifting the disguise spell “It smells like citrus and-” her airways closed up, she had minutes to live. “Cinnamon?” Asterin was now fully herself again as she said this and the King and Queen both looked at her in total shock the Queen the lunged towards her but missed and fell to the floor. All around them chaos had erupted with women crying and men trying to find anyone medically trained. Eira came and grabbed Asterin from her seat as they fled from the scene. People all around them were shouting, screaming and crying for someone to stop them and for somebody to save the King and Queen but none of them were doing anything but watch as their precious leaders died before them. “Guys come on we have to go now!” Paula yelled at them from the doorway. That was all they needed to run from the palace back to their carriage and home to the manor. All Asterin noticed as they fled was the black and white carriage with two happy people embracing each other in the door of it.


	7. The trip

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a cute filler chapter while I decide what will happen next :)

“Wow that was easier then expected.” Paula said on their way home in the carriage. “Yes it was wasn’t it who would have thought they wouldn’t have magic in place for this kind of thing. To be honest it’s rather strange that none of the villagers thought of this as well given the fact that statistically there should be at least one person in that village that has magic and knows how to use it.” Eira said in a thoughtful voice. Asterin hummed in agreement and leant back against the cushions behind her and closing her eyes. Dani started talking about how they would have to lay low for a few weeks so that on the off chance that one of the rulers did survive they would know that Asterin was alive and had tapped into her magic. “When we get back to the manor we should all have a good long rest.” Eira started to say. Dani cut her off “Eira let me handle the basis of the next week ok?” Eira nodded in defeat “Alright we’re going to go home and everyone go to your rooms run yourselves a hot bath and I’ll tell the maids to start cooking some supper and lay it out on the table so we can all eat it whenever we want after we’ve cleaned up. No exceptions Eira.” Dani was frowning at Eira when she said the last part, she had a tendency to forget about doing human necessities so Dani was in charge of making sure she did them. “Fine I will” she grumbled before sitting up. They had arrived back at the manor. 

“Kayla?” Asterin yelled down the hallway. The maid came walking down the hallway in a minute “Yes Miss Asterin what is it?” she asked politely. “Do you know where the library is I need a spell from a book there but I don’t remember where it is.” Kayla laughed. “Don’t worry Miss Asterin the library is very hard to find I will take you there now.” she started walking throught a multitude of halls and lead her to the grand door she recognize as the libraries door. “I will wait here so I can bring you back to your room once you have retrieved what you want to retrieve.” Kayla said as she walked to stand by the wall. Asterin smiled at her and walked into the library straight to the botanical section to retrieve a spell on how to quickly grow healthy flowers. After she had got it Kayla walked her back to her room and Asterin entered her garden. She walked over to the soil round the room and sprinkled rose seeds in them. She then used the spell she had learnt to grow the roses into beautiful red roses and then she picked their petals off once they were at their reddest. Throughout the rest of that night she relaxed in a hot bath with rose petals and ate the supper the maids had laid onto the table. 

The next day Asterin ate breakfast at the dining table alone until Eira came in and sat next to her. “Good morning Asterin.” she said, her name sliding off her tongue like honey. “Morning Eira” she said back brightly hiding the shiver Eira’s voice sent through her. “Do you have any plans today?” Eira enquired. Asterin shook her head and took a bite of her pancakes. “Wonderful I would like to take you to the forest for a day I need some nature time.” Asterin made a noise of agreement as her mouth was full of pancake. “Once you’ve had breakfast meet me in my garden and we can go then.” She nodded in agreement and began eating some pancakes with blueberries. Asterin then left the room and made her way to her room to decide on which of her dresses she wanted to wear for the outing. A knock came on the door and Asterin yelled for them to come in. Paula burst through the door and sat on Asterin’s beanbag (she had dragged it in from where it had appeared on her balcony earlier). “Hello Paula is there a reason you’re here?” Paula dramatically fell back onto her bed and sighed. “Dani is taking me on a date to go fruit picking in the next village and I don’t know what to wear but I know that you will as I have the perfect dress for you.” Asterin raised her eyebrow and went over to sit with Paula. “I do have one of my dresses in mind that will fit you but what do you have in mind for me?” Paula grabbed one of the dresses out of her wardrobe. It was a dark green dress with a high low hem but nothing really special about it. “Really? I saw and rejected that dress already Paula.” Asterin walked back over too her wardrobe and reached in it for a lavender colour dress that had an off the shoulder hem and silver gems all over the bodice. She saw a bright light out of the corner of her eyes and turned around with the dress and gasped. Paula had used magic on the dress so it was covered in dark green lacing and a gold belt on it. “I underestimated you here let’s swap dresses this will look better on you anyway.” Paula swapped the dresses with her and then left to get changed. 

A little while later Asterin was sitting in her garden drinking a cup of tea and reading a book of spells when Eira came into the room looking dazzling in a peach coloured dress with a white shawl over it. “I love you dress Asterin where did you get it from?” Asterin ran down the steps to take Eira’s hand “Paula got it for me. We both swapped dresses because you and Dani both decided to take us out today.” Eira smiled she knew Paula would do something like that. Eira grabbed Asterin’s hand in a more firm grip and led her to a side door that put them on a more direct path to the forest. Asterin gazed in amazement at the forest around them. Huge trees loomed up above the floor with gorgeous green leaves. Flowers and small trees decorated the floor and as they walked through the trees more flowers and plants popped up with the magic they were emanating. “This is so wonderful Eira how did you find this small bit of forest that’s magic?” Asterin asked in wonder. “It’s the place of forest that always drew me to it. When I first arrived at the manor I was scared and worried the cult would find me so I never left the manor until I felt the pull of this place and got them to show me the way here. It is a truly magical place and I’ll show you why when we arrive there.” Asterin walked with Eira for a while as they both pointed out plants and trees they knew that were interesting and then they got to the centre of this part of the forest Asterin felt the magic pulsing in the air. 

Inside the forest there was an alcove that positively thrummed with magic. Asterin could feel it in the air as she and Eira walked to a small bubbling stream that seemed to be happily dancing on it’s way. “I have a question” Asterin said breaking the calm siletn atmosphere of the alcove, “You said that you felt the pull of this place when you first got here and by that I assume you mean how it’s practically alive with magic correct?” Eira gave a nod of acknowledgement as she began setting up a picnic from a basket she didn’t notice she had. “Does that mean you can use magic as well?” Eira sighed “I wondered when this would come up to be truthful Asterin it will be rare to find a person around here that doesn’t have the ability to channel magic. However throughout the generations somehow the people without magic have rose to power and brainwashed younger generations so that they believe they have no magic and now it’s just been so deeply suppressed in people it would take years of training to be able to begin to have access to it. She looked at the water and sighed again “It’s sad but the people in the village have had their magic suppressed by your parents.” Asterin was shocked but still dubious until Eira spoke again “The only reason that you are able to use your magic so freely now is because of how you were brought up; this may sound ridiculous and not make sense but bear with me for a minute okay?” Asterin gave a reluctant nod “Ever since you were young you felt like an outcast and a disappointment right? Well it’s because all of those negative feelings that your magic grew to contain them to try to keep them away from you, so for you your magic is like a chamber that holds all of those emotions you tried to lock away.” Asterin barely had anytime to be stunned before Eira quickly continued “Your magic will be largely emotion based so say you wanted to use it to bring you something of sentimental value well your emotions relating to that would make it easier.” Eira finished. 

“But you didn’t actually answer my question Eira” Asterin said. “I d-don’t know what you mean” Eira said- she was nervous no “I asked if you could do magic because it’s mine and Paula’s job to do the magic and you and Dani do the fighting but you said that it is hard to find someone who can’t do magic. So are you one of those people who can’t do magic?” Asterin questioned she was beginning to become more forceful with her questioning but still remaining respectful. Eira looked at the floor in defeat “As I was growing up if I showed any signs of magic I was punished and told never to do it again and because I was raised in a way designed to unlock Selene’s memories I was kept apart from the other kids so I could stop being distracted and focus on remembering.” Eira took a bit of a cinnamon bun and looked away. Asterin also grabbed a cinnamon bun and took a bite of it analyzing what she had just heard. They sat staring at the steam for a while and then something caught Asterin’s eye. “Hey Eira is that what I think it is over there?” Eira looked in the direction Asterin was and smiled “Yes I believe it is.”


End file.
